Archon of Strife: Segment One

Kael awoke once again in a cold sweat. Sitting bolt upright suddenly and heavily panting, he waited for the haziness to clear. This was the third time this week he had been plagued by those same dreams. Always a man and a woman running deeper into some sort of dungeon, getting cornered by some unknown threat, a terrifying feeling pulsing everywhere, almost seeming to emanate from the walls themselves. It was unnerving how awful and real the dreams got sometimes – even once causing him to awake screaming.

He tried to shake it off and get a drink of water, used to disregarding and keeping his feelings inside. Being the adopted son of the town acrobatics team forced Kael to constantly put on a smile and be in his best shape. He never really liked any of the members, but they took care of him, and that's what people told him mattered. However, most people passing through or trading just raised their eyebrows and wondered why such fools didn’t take their act to a circus - exactly how Kael felt. There were six members including him, and their job in the town was mostly to keep peace and help people in danger. They had actually started out as weapons exhibitionists before Kael was born and thus were the closest thing to a town watch the village had.

It wasn’t the sparring or training that Kael disliked about living here with them; in fact that was just about the only thing he enjoyed in daily existence. It was having to do weekly shows in which they memorized a routine involving tumbling, balancing, and all-around useless but showy acrobatics. Apparently the village was too small to harbor anything more out of hand than domestic squabbles and required of Kael’s family that they entertain to earn a just keep. More bothersome was that nobody other than Kael seemed to even mind or find it degrading. He had considered running away many times, but he knew the rest of the team would find him because he'd tried before only to be dragged back while being lectured about his own good. They acted nice, but they really didn't care about him.

Kael hopped out the window and slid down a rope he kept tangled in the rafters and sometimes used to run off into the woods to be alone. Outside owls hooted and crickets chirped in the fine autumn night, the right temperature to go out in little clothing or none at all just to lay by yourself and think. This suited Kael perfectly. He started a swift jog in a pair of loose-fitting leather foot straps, sometimes used in the family tricks, as well as a codall. That's what he called it anyway, because he had heard it from a passerby at a young age. The garment never seemed to get tarnished or ripped, though he always wore it. It used to be his cloak when he was smaller and soon wouldn't even fit as a shawl. It was what he "was shipped in" as Jerith put It, one of the older members. This was one of those comments that tore at Kael and sparked the contempt he held for them.

Kael did, however, admire the tools he was required to use for many exhibitions. Even though nothing ever happened in Daldenvale, the family kept weapons and armors he never would have dreamed of if he hadn't seen them. The sandal-like shoes he wore now allowed him to feel the ground without developing hard calluses, which was why he liked them. He often ran in them by himself, as it allowed him to better think when he was alone and moving. Just now he was considering who decided on Kael as his name - his real name the family had never shared with him, saying that Wind-runner better suited him because of his speed, and that he needed a good stage name. Kael started to mull over hatred for his so called ‘family,’ the ones who were supposed to love and care for him, not make him into a performing puppy for five hundred people plus travelers. He was just narrowing his eyes on the thought when he heard a rustle in the nearby bushes. At first he slowed to a walk and looked around, but after a minute of no other sounds, dismissed it as a rabbit or other forest animal. Sometimes deer walked through the town, nibbling on flowers, and it wasn't uncommon to find a bear once in a while in one of the nearby caves, but Kael had traversed this particular trail many times before, and felt confident that nothing overly dangerous, like wolves, ever entered these woods to hunt. After a short time his thoughts wandered back to home and he started up a trot and eventually a jog again.

The Echo Lands which his village bordered were regarded as trouble in most peoples' books, but although Kael had lived here all his life, he didn’t quite know what people thought so strange about them. Many caravans passing through brought gypsies foretelling of doom and destruction just beyond the high mountain ridges, mixed with tales involving treasure of mythical proportions. The troupe always dismissed these as stories to lure fools to join the caravans or buy their goods, and to that end nobody in the village was permitted to venture that way and Kael had never had the opportunity to find out what was so strange about the lands. One young man had defied the elders nearly a decade ago and came back missing an arm, skin neatly singed closed where it had once connected to his shoulder. He never spoke from that day, and instead reduced himself to a docile mute.

-Snap snap crackle-

Kael perked up this time at the sound of the noise. It wasn't entirely uncommon to hear such sounds on some of his midnight escapades, but he usually discovered the culprit, whether fallen pinecone or forest dweller. Due to his heavy panting, he couldn't locate the source until he regained his composure, and standing to looking around, he waited and cooled off in the warm night breeze. Gazing up at the stars, he wondered if anyone could be watching back, but never got the opportunity to ponder the thought as a sudden thud and the ground rising toward his face were the last senses that came to him.


Kael awoke to voices nearby; and though he wanted to examine his surroundings, he kept still for fear of having attention brought to him.

"Di ya see which way the beast went?" One voice whispered.

"Nah, buh' I didn't hear nuttin breaking after he rushed us, and carryin that lump of a kid he can’ta hardly get thru the wood," a second voice replied. "Les just look aroun’ and fine ‘em, they can’ta gone far eh?"

After much rustling and bickering the voices seemed hopeless. Kael had been lying still on the ground for almost ten minutes, during which time it sounded like two had left and come back.

"We can’t fine ‘em in this light! Blast it I'm going back!" the first started again.

A third voice interjected, "the boss'll gut yeh fer sure if he finds out yeh dint turn ne'thin up."

"Come out ye cow!" the first voice shouted over both of them, "Yer mother wears a bell!"

Kael suddenly felt hot breath on the back of his neck. Unsure of whether to move, he stayed motionless, apprehension suddenly building up. Who have they been talking about? Thoughts raced through his mind as the breath started to speed up.

"Yeh dads is a mule!" Kael’s fear began growing as he realized whatever they were insulting was still in the vicinity and not anyone from the town. He was just considering breaking cover and running when a deafening roar met the third insult.

"Yeh drink goat's milk!"

Kael turned his head to the sound behind him to find a red-eyed, bull-like man towering over him and their hiding spot in a patch of bushes. It looked as if it were going to trample him and the bushes and do everything in its power to wreak havoc. Kael's scream was cut short as the minotaur made a huge leap several feet in the air over one of the bandits and cleaved an unusually large axe through the remaining two. Kael's shock was soon overcome once again by fear as the large beast smashed the last bandit's head between his palms. It faltered for a moment and then slumped to a crouch, looking very worn out. Mostly covered in shaggy gray hair with a few white tufts and highlights, the beast was almost as tall crouching as many villagers were standing and Kael could only wonder how it had hidden itself at all. He continued to silently stare as it wiped its blade on the grass and pushed the bodies over to the base of a tree with a hoofed foot and then seated itself again with a grunt.

After a minute of tension Kael took the opportunity to run, hoping the minotaur was suffering from wounds or had passed out. A clinking of steel and rapid hoof beats told him otherwise. He chanced a glance backward and wished he hadn't - the monster had seized up the giant weapon and was a mere ten feet behind, rapidly picking up speed. Kael put on a quick burst of speed himself and continued for half a minute to avoid looking back, all the while trying to tune out the crashing of forest behind him. He almost thought he would make it, the village looming in the distance, when he felt something similar to a hammer being thrust into his back. It was almost exactly in the same spot as when he had passed out earlier, and he gasped for air as he tumbled forward clutching his back and trying to regain balance. He tripped and fell face first into a small clutch of weeds, moaning as tears ran down his face, mixing with blood trickling from scratches.

"Little"...'Huff'..."mongrel"…'Huff,’ a voice panted, sounding somewhat matured and a little out of the glory days. "Next time it's the axe head first," it sputtered as the creature gasped for more air.

Kael's curiosity rivaled his instinct to scramble into the undergrowth away from danger as he tried to fill his lungs with fresh air. He felt as if someone had tenderized his legs and crushed his back into pieces after the brutal hits and running. Needles stabbed all over his face as he wiped his eyes and fearfully assessed his new captor.